UniSA nutrition expert Professor Jon Buckley will examine the low-carb diet at his upcoming Knowledge Works lecture at City East Campus tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
Prof Buckley says low-carb diets do result in greater weight loss than other diets over the short term (up to six months), but beyond that the weight loss is similar to other diets.
“Previously there were concerns that low carbohydrate diets might have adverse effects on risk factors for cardiovascular disease, in particular on LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol), but more recent evidence suggests that this is not the case,” Prof Buckley says.
“It does appear however that this dietary pattern has greater positive effects on HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) than typical diets. Thus, the overall effect on blood lipid profile might be better than conventional diets.”
However, Prof Buckley says there is some evidence that there may be adverse impacts on non-traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease (that is, risk factors that are not as well recognised or accepted), adverse impacts on mood and potentially adverse effects on mortality, but the evidence in these areas is limited and not conclusive at this stage.